CoreFirst Bank & Trust Takes Position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 21,024 shares of the company's stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its position in shares of Coca-Cola by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 39,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KO shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa Chang sold 13,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $961,317.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 94,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,334. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,423 shares of company stock valued at $22,263,071 over the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $70.50. 4,703,042 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,995,557. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.45 and its 200-day moving average is $66.43. The firm has a market cap of $303.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.03. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Coca-Cola's payout ratio is 82.59%.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.